Page 12 of One Step Sideways

She looked at me incredulously. “That idiot didn’t even accept protection yesterday. She would have sent Rain to school today. Did you know that?”

I glanced at Rain and saw the gun tipping a little, the weight obviously getting to her. “Ms. Peterson wasn’t told about Mr. Saunders' escape until this morning, after her daughter left the house.”

Mrs. Saunders all but rolled her eyes. “Is that what she told you?”

“No, ma’am, that’s what she told my boss. She called our company for help because she served overseas with one of us and the cops wouldn’t believe her when she was terrified Rain had been taken by her father, after they only told her this morning he escaped yesterday. She’s going out of her mind with fear and worry.”

I glanced at Rain. “But what I’d like to know is how you knew?”

Mrs. Saunders glanced at her granddaughter, looking confused. “Rain? You told me your mom said it was nonsense. That neither of you was in danger.”

The gun wobbled a little more. I was pretty sure I could disarm her, but it was still a risk. The gun looked as old as fuck and could hurt her if it went off even accidentally.

Where the fuck was Rawlings?

I saw the problem as both women’s gazes changed minutely. One in panic and the other in glee. I knew who it was before I turned and found an automatic pistol pointed at my face. We were clearly going three for three and I was tired of this shit. I’d had fewer guns pointed at me inside.

Why the fuck couldn’t I have had enhanced hearing?

Then I saw the reason that Rawlings had stopped trying to get the door open, as another guy hauled him half-conscious into the room. A third guy slid the door closed and pulled the curtains closed behind him, and just as he reached out I caught sight of the edge of a tattoo peeking out from his cuff. I couldn’t see much of it, maybe what looked like the point of an arrow, slightly faded at one corner, and the letter U that a tiny scar snaked through.

They obviously didn’t care about the cameras. Not that it mattered as one set was on a loop and one was internal, but surely Danny would expect an update? And the man Ricky, Ringo, whatever his name was, was over fifty minutes away, which meant I could be stuck without help for a good hour, maybe up to two. And I doubted these guys would hang around that long.

The second man dropped Rawlings like a stone, then whistled as he took in the room. “Nice.” I watched him as he sauntered over to an old-fashioned cart with some crystal decanters of liquor on it. He didn’t bother with the equally fancy glasses, just tipped the decanter up and chugged.

I took in the pants, the same exact ones that the third guy was wearing, and even though they wore hoodies, I knew that both were prison guards. Which made my life easier or harder, depending on if they could be swayed.

No, harder, because they’d clearly been bought.

“Well done, Princess,” Saunders said quietly and took the gun from her and passed it to the third man.

Well, that answered that. I knew from the way Grandma reacted that she’d been fooled as well. Rain looked like she wanted a fucking cuddle, but Saunders dismissed her easily, and turned to me.

“Who the fuck are you and why shouldn’t I put a bullet in you?”

I had many answers. I knew he could see my scar, and he wasn’t worried about being able to kill me. Maybe the surrender in front of a child with a forty-year-old gun probably told him if I could disarm her I would have done.

“I work for a private security company. We were tasked with finding Rain Saunders.”

The guy with the liquor scoffed. “Because they knew the cops were too incompetent to.”

Saunders nodded, then he looked at his daughter. “We’re leaving.”

Her eyes brightened a little after being ignored, and she nodded determinedly. “Nana put the cases in the car.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Nana? We’re not taking that geriatric bitch anywhere.”

The second man slammed the decanter down and eyed the old lady. “I suppose if I closed my eyes…”

Thankfully, Rain didn’t understand, but from her disgusted expression, her grandma certainly did.

“No time,” Saunders snapped. “You can get all the dried-up pussy you want when we get to Nuevo León.”

That had to be Mexico, but it wasn’t my lack of geographical knowledge that bothered me. It was the fact that he’d named it in front of me, which meant he didn’t intend on either me or Rawlings being able to repeat it.

Then a fourth man slipped into the room, and I knew instantly what the scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face was hiding. No wonder Saunders wasn't scared. He'd brought his own extra protection. I followed the man's gaze to the guard still swigging the liquor and turned so I could see a little more of him. Man was a stretch. He didn't look much older than eighteen, if that. Where the fuck had they gotten him from? I noted the baggy jeans and the slight loosening of the pocket seam. Not uniform pants.

And what abilities did he have?

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